Up until recently one of the key selling points for using Wink’s smart home products was that you didn’t also need to sign up for a subscription service to use them. But a Wink hub, motion sensor, or other products and you could just use them.
Then Wink announced in May that it was going to start charging customers $5 per month to continue using their products and services. Wink only gave users a week’s notice.
Customers obviously were not happy, so a week later Wink announced it was giving folks another week to decide whether to start paying or to live with a bunch of useless gadgets. And then the date was extended again… but now the end is in sight.
Wink says that the new subscription will be required starting Monday, July 27th, 2020. If you’ve already got Wink gear in your home you will be able to continue using some “limited functionality” without a subscription. But that’s basically limited to local control for some devices including smart lights and locks.
For everything else, including support for additional devices and automation routines, you’ll need a subscription.
Here’s a roundup of recent tech news from around the web.
- Wink’s delayed smart home subscription plan kicks in July 27th [Engadget]
After announcing in May that it would start requiring customers to pay a subscription to keep using its smart home products, Wink postponed the launch of that new subscription service. Now it’s set to take effect July 27th. - iOS 14 beta and iPadOS 14 beta are rolling out now [Apple]
Apple’s iOS 14 beta is now available for iPhones and iPads, brings widgets to the iPhone home screen, Scribble handwriting recognition to iPads, and more. - OnePlus Nord specs leaked [@evleaks]
OnePlus hasn’t officially announced the OnePlus Nord mid-range smartphone’s specs yet, but @evleaks shared this image showing a 6.44 inch, 90 Hz AMOLED display, a Snapdragon 765G processor, quad cameras, and at least 8GB RAM/128GB storage. - Polymega production update [@polymegaHQ]
The Polymega game console (with support for streaming and retro gaming via cartridges and CDs) hits a production delay, but is now on track to ship by Nov 15th or sooner. - Chrome OS 86 plans to bring HDR video playback [About Chromebooks]
HDR video playback support coming to Chromebooks with Chrome OS 86. So far the only Samsung Galaxy Chromebook with an AMOLED display can take advantage of the feature, but more HDR Chromebooks are likely on the way. - E-Matic 11.6 inch notebook [FCC]
An E-Matic 11.6 inch budget WIn10 laptop with Celeron N3350, 3GB RAM, 64GB storage, and a 1366 x 768 pixel display just passed through the FCC. - HiSense Q5 monochrome Andorid tablet with 4G LTE [Cect-Shop]
The HiSense Q5 Android tablet with a 10.5 inch grayscale RLCD display, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of storage is now available for $426. - Discovering Live TV is Easier Than Ever on Fire TV [Amazon Fire TV Blog]
Amazon is updating its Fire TV user interface to make it easier to find live content if you’re subscribing to third-party providers. Starting today Sling TV and YouTube TV are available in the Live TV section. Hulu + Live TV is coming soon. - Xiaomi Mi TV Stick for $50 [Banggood]
Another day, another retail listing for the as-yet-unreleased Xiaomi Mi TV Stick media streamer with Android TV. This seems to be the 1080p version, not the expected 4K model.
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